Kiln process impact of alternative solid fuel combustion in the cement kiln main burner - Mathematical modelling and full-scale experiment

摘要

Increased use of alternative fuels in cement kilns is a trend in the world. However, replacing fossil fuels like coal with different alternative fuels will give various impacts on the overall kiln process due to the fuel characteristics. Hence, it is important to know to what extent the fossil fuels can be replaced by different alternative fuels without severely changing process conditions, product quality or emissions. In the present study, a mass and energy balance for the combustion of different alternative fuels in a cement rotary kiln was developed. First, the impact of different fuel characteristics on kiln gas temperature, kiln gas flow rate and air requirement were observed by using coal (reference case), meat and bone meal (MBM), two different wood types, refuse derived fuel and a mixture of saw dust and solid hazardous waste as the primary fuel. It was found that the key process parameters depend largely on the chemical characteristics of the fuel. It appears that MBM shows quite different results from other alternative fuels investigated. Next, simulation of combustion of a mixture of coal and MBM in the main burner was carried out in three steps. The first step was combustion of replacing part of coal energy with MBM, and a reduction in kiln exhaust gas temperature compared to the coal reference case was found. In the second step, the fuel feed rate was increased in order to raise the kiln gas temperature to that of the reference case. In the third step, the fuel feed rate and the clinker production rate were changed in order to have not only the same kiln gas temperature but also to obtain the same volumetric flow rate of total exhaust gas from the precalciner as in the reference case. Around 7% of reduction in clinker production rate could be observed when replacing 48% of the coal energy input. Results from a full-scale test using the same mixture of coal and MBM verified the simulation results.